Hubs done in by own flubs

September 08, 2007|By CURT HORNBECKER

The North Hagerstown football team took a page from the "Mission: Impossible" playbook, and self-destructed Friday night in a 26-20 loss to Heritage to kick off the Hubs' inaugural season in Mike Callas Stadium.

"We shot ourselves in the foot," said North coach Danny Cunningham. "We weren't very disciplined tonight. We played about 20 minutes of football out of 48 minutes."

The Hubs committed 17 penalties for 98 yards, fumbled 11 times and committed four turnovers.

And while Heritage - out of Leesburg, Va. - made its fair share of mistakes, most of them were made deep in North territory.

Despite the errors, North (0-1) had an opportunity to win the game, gaining possession with 3:34 left on its own 36. But two incomplete passes, a holding penalty and a fumble netted minus-4 yards and sealed the Hubs' fate.

Advertisement

With decent field position early in the game, North's offense was able to move the ball with some consistency, covering 60 yards in nine plays for a 6-0 lead, with Justin Donaldson running it in from 15 yards out.

Seconds into the second period, North made it 12-0 on a 2-yard Diez Johnson run.

But Ross Madison took the ensuing kickoff 55 yards down the left sideline to set up the Pride's first score, and the Hubs followed that with a fumble on their own 29. By the time the half mercifully ended, Heritage (1-1) held a 23-12 advantage, scoring on a pair of two-play series starting on the Hubs' 23- and 21-yard lines.

"We were able to give our quarterback some time, and he found some open receivers," said Heritage coach Wes Driskill. "(Having excellent field position) helped."

North's James Brunson found Michael Rivas for a 70-yard strike to set up a 17-yard pass to Mike McMillan for the Hubs' final TD of the game with 6:17 left.